Sacha Baron Cohen somehow succeeded in becoming the most ubiquitous comedian of the 2000s, despite the fact that his single talent seems to be the ability to put out material that consistently fails to be funny. It's quite an impressive feat. Da Ali G Show, which started on the UK's Channel 4 but eventually moved over to HBO, introduced the world to his most famous character (alongside Borat, star of the smash film of the same name). Ali G, a hideously stereotypical (and deeply offensive) parody of British black youths and British-Asian youths, was somehow lauded as the most ingenious comic creation of the decade. Perhaps that says more about audiences than the creator. Cohen has made a living from portraying exaggerated parodies of ethnic and sexual minorities in Britain, and it's a shame that a network as (usually) progressive as HBO was willing to air his offensive nonsense. Why is Ali G regarded as funny? Is it 'coz Cohen actually isn't black? It's funny to laugh at racial difference, said no-one ever.
